


Up to No Good

by MajorGodComplex



Category: Death Note & Related Fandoms, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Dementors (Harry Potter) - Freeform, Drama, F/M, Handcuffs, Hogwarts, Horcruxes, House Rivalries, Hufflepuff Misa, Humor, Inappropriate Hand Holding, Light Isn't a Troublemaker, Light is a Bastard Again, M/M, Possession, Ravenclaw Light, Slow Romance, Slytherin Takada, Teacher-Student Relationship, Teen Angst, possible character deaths
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-02-16
Updated: 2016-06-09
Packaged: 2018-03-13 08:44:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3375137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MajorGodComplex/pseuds/MajorGodComplex
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Light's 6th year at Hogwarts was supposed to be his best. Then L appeared, his new DADA teacher on a search for a notebook that may or may not be in Light's possession. Thus begins a year of miserable class periods, insomniac Aurors, pain-in-the-ass girlfriends, a mysterious horcrux, handcuffs, dementors, and a pair of weird looking second years who won't stop following Light around. And who is this "Kira" everyone keeps talking about?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I Hate L

**Author's Note:**

> "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if only one remembers to turn on a Light." 
> 
> There goes my resolve in never publishing a Hogwarts!AU...

Light Yagami was the most promising wizard in the Wizarding World. Light Yagami was destined for greatness. Light Yagami would be a better wizard than Harry Potter and Dumbledore and Merlin and all the wizards he studied in History of Magic combined. (At least, that’s what he told himself.)

Light was a 6th year Ravenclaw prefect and a shoe-in for head boy. He had never once been late for class, and he never disappointed, always raising his hand when the teacher asked a question. Most importantly, he always got those questions right. His teachers liked that about him. In fact, his teachers liked most things about him. Often he would be in the library looking through books, only to overhear a conversation between two teachers discussing his achievements in hushed voices. He would give a shy smile that screamed of humility when teachers complimented him in class, ignoring the glares of his jealous classmates.

Being everyone’s favorite was not only helpful to his future, it was fun as well!

This was why he made sure to wake up a full hour early and eat his breakfast of toast and oatmeal quickly so that he could be a full ten minutes early to Defense Against the Dark Arts to meet his new teacher. Really, getting a new teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts every year was annoying, but Light was always confident in his abilities to charm the pants off of anyone.

One look into Light’s trustworthy eyes, and he was an automatic favorite of even the meanest teachers.

Unfortunately, his plan was foiled when he realized he was the only one in the classroom. It made sense that none of his slacker classmates would be here, but it didn’t make much sense that his teacher would be late on the first day of class. If it were Light’s first day teaching, he would have made an extra effort to be there early to begin setting up.

He sighed, and pulled out all of his books. He flipped through his textbook to get a good feel on what they would be covering this year. Honestly? He had no idea what to expect. He didn’t even know who his teacher was, only that his father was very excited about it and informed him before shipping him off to school for another year that it could be beneficial for his future if he made a good impression.

The textbook seemed to be less about defensive spells and more about justice itself and how exactly to go about catching a dark wizard. There was a lot about intellect, and how using the logical part of your brain is just as important as using a wand during a fight. Fascinating, but he wasn't sure he agreed. He knew every spell in the book, and it served him well enough. There were also a few chapters on how the wizarding justice system works and how great it was. There was even a chapter on Azkaban and the Dementors themselves and their benefits.  Light _really_ wasn’t sure that he agreed. Not only that, but the text sounded mind numbingly boring.

He looked at the author. _Rue Ryuzaki._

Not being sure on what direction the teacher was going to take with this made Light nervous, and he hoped he wouldn’t end up speaking his mind too much about _exactly_ what he thought of the justice system in the Wizarding World. Chances are he would smile and nod with whatever the teacher said, then write an essay on how wonderful wizards were, biting his tongue and holding onto his dream of becoming Head Auror and changing the system from the inside.

Light didn’t know why they didn’t just bring back the death penalty for all criminals. Keeping them all permanently in Azkaban was inefficient, expensive, and frankly quite cruel considering no matter how much you lie to yourself, death was a much more safe and humane alternative to Dementors. He pushed the thoughts out of his mind, deciding to wait and see what the class holds before making snap judgments based merely around what kind of material was in the textbook assigned.

Perhaps the new teacher used to be an Auror? Probable considering that seemed to be more the direction the class was taking. Light smiled, despite himself. He really could get behind a class taught by someone who knew what they were doing for once. He’d wanted to be an Auror like his father since he was a little kid, and to have real training? Last year’s teacher was okay, but _way_ more concerned with simple text material they would need to know for the OWL exams. Material Light had known since third year.

He turned to the back of the book to see a little blurb in the corner, advertising another book. _How to solve a case like L! A complete guide written by the detective himself!_ Huh.

He yawned, and looked at his watch. Three minutes left till class started, and still no teacher. Students started trickling into the room, and he quickly shoved all the books that weren’t his textbook (including a curious black notebook he had picked up in the hall) under his desk. Takada, a Slytherin girl his age, slid into the seat next to him.

“Hey, Light!”

He tried to avoid rolling his eyes. Takada was okay, and she was smart enough to at least keep up with him on occasion, but she was still a Slytherin and had ambitions that made him think perhaps she was more interested in what he could do for her than who he was. He put up with it, considering he was dating her for pretty much the same reason.

He gave her a smile and a nod, acknowledging her presence before tuning her out. She smiled, and he was already getting exhausted with the show he was going to have to put on for everyone the rest of the day.

“Have you seen the new teacher yet?” He tried to sound less interested than he really was. Class was supposed to start any second now, and he still hadn’t shown up.

When a large projector screen turned on at the front of the room, and a giant gothic letter L was projected onto it, the class suddenly quieted down.

_What?_

“Hello,” A mysterious, distorted voice said.

A girl in the back screamed. Several people looked frightened. Light was just confused.

“I am L. I will be your teacher for Defense Against the Dark Arts this year.” Ten seconds of silence. “It seems some of you are surprised by my use of technology? That is all this is, so if you would refrain from shrieking that would be much appreciated. I’ve learned long ago that fighting against Muggle advancements rather than using them to our advantage is mere folly on the part of the Wizarding World. Now, if you will—“

Wait… _L!? The_ L? The greatest detective and Auror the Wizarding World had ever known, L? The L that’s respected not only in the Wizarding World, but in the muggle world as well? The L so mysterious that he’s supposedly never shown his face to another human being on this planet? _That_ L was teaching at _his_ school?

No wonder it had been kept hushed, and no wonder his dad had been so excited about it. But what was he doing wasting his time teaching at Hogwarts? A world of possibilities suddenly flashed through the boy’s mind. If L saw his potential; saw that he was undoubtedly the greatest wizard the world had ever known; perhaps he would allow Light to work with him! This could be his ticket to changing the justice system.

Light hadn’t been fully aware that he’d been zoning out until he heard a voice say, “I said, _Light Yagami._ ”

That was him!

“Yes?” He responded, trying not to look annoyed. He hoped he hadn’t missed something important. A few people in the back of the room giggled, and Light felt for a moment that perhaps _yes_ hadn’t been the right answer to the statement. His name _had_ been called, right?

“Listen closely, class,” L said, “If I am graciously taking time out of my schedule to teach this class, I expect the proper respect to be given for my time. This is the only time I will be taking roll, and if I have to say one more name twice, I will gladly surrender my position as your teacher to someone with a bit more patience for troublemakers like Light Yagami. Is that understood?”

More giggles. Light stiffened, he’d never in his life been called a trouble maker, and for what? Zoning out for three seconds and forgetting to answer during roll call? That’s ridiculous! This “teacher” didn’t even know him yet. He sighed, and nodded, “Yes.”

“Yes what?”

“Yes, Professor.”

Three seconds.

“Odd.” The voice said, “Light Yagami. You’re of Japanese descent, are you not?”

“Yes, sir.” Light was growing more frustrated by the second. Though he’d lived in England since his father’s transfer when he was little, he used to get teased quite a bit for the accent he couldn’t quite shake when he was younger, and it was quite obvious he looked different than most of the others in his year.

His teacher suddenly switched topics back to finishing roll call, as Light silently boiled recalling his title as a trouble maker. Two minutes into class and he’d already made a bad impression. This wouldn’t have happened if L had been here in person! He could have come to class five minutes early, put on his perfect student face, had a bit of small talk where he flattered his teacher endlessly, and started off class as a favorite student. But now? _Strike one._ He took a deep breath. This was easily salvageable. He tilted his head toward the ceiling and closed his eyes, listening to the almost soothing voice of his teacher begin to talk about what the course would look like for the rest of the year.

“Would Light Yagami care to look at the screen like the rest of the class?” His teacher asked him. Light gripped his pencil tighter, trying not to get frustrated. He opened his eyes. _Or not._

“May I ask why, Professor? With all due respect, as you are not here in person, it’s not as if there is much to look at.” There was nothing on the screen but a giant letter L, so it’s not as if looking down at his desk or up at the ceiling would have made much of a difference. In fact, he wasn’t completely sure L could even see the people in the classroom until he called on Light specifically. He must have some sort of camera in here too. Light was awful at figuring out muggle technology, but he at least knew enough to get by.

“Light Yagami should look at the screen so that I can see Light-kuns face. As Light-kun has already proved himself to be a trouble maker known for daydreaming when important people are talking, it would best suit Light-kun to give me the respect I deserve before he finds himself kicked out of his NEWT level Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Any more questions you might like to ask me, Light-kun?”

 _Strike two._ What’s with the honorifics? Light was annoyed with the Auror’s insistence in using them every time, as if stressing the fact that he was different. Not to mention the fact that L had already obviously chosen Light as his least favorite student not fifteen minutes into class for perfectly innocent reasons.

“Actually, I do have a question.” Light said, knowing he would regret was about to come out of his mouth, but pride making it so that he had no other choice to say it. “If we can’t see your face, how do I know you’re not some other student pulling a prank on us? With all due respect, I’m having a hard time believing that you’re L, considering you don’t seem to be quite as great as you say you are. Fifteen minutes into class, and we haven’t even pulled out a wand yet. And what’s with the honorifics?”

“I apologize if I have used the wrong honorific in referring to Light-kun. I was only trying to issue the proper amount of respect to make you comfortable. Perhaps Light-kun would prefer Light-chan?”

“No, professor,” he said through gritted teeth.

“Excellent,” he responded, “Now If Light-kun would please move to the front and center seat in the classroom, he may be able to pay attention so that he can learn to be almost as smart as he thinks he is. Once you cease all your distractions and allow me to begin teaching, Light-kun, you will find that with my superior intellect there is no one else I could be but L. As for using your wand, you’ll find that now it might be quite some time before it becomes necessary to use it in class. I don’t believe Light-kun is ready for such a step yet.”

_Strike three, you’re out._

The room was quiet as Light scooped up all his books and trudged over to the front and center seat, which had remained empty due to its usual close proximity to the teacher and automatic label as a sycophant to anyone who chose to sit there. It was also typically the seat reserved for trouble makers, which was apparently the bill Light Yagami fit.

He was quiet, compliant, and annoyed the entire rest of class.

The full first thirty minutes of class seemed to be composed of “the great auror L” talking about how…well… _great_ he was. He talked about how many dark wizards he had single handedly got locked away in Azkaban without even needing to lift a finger. He talked about how being a great wizard meant not only magical strength, but certain strength of the mind that not very many people possessed (L, of course, possessed this strength). He talked about how he could do wandless, wordless magic by the time he was six, and how he never had to go to a magical school for learning because he had been far above graduate level by the time he was of age to be a first year. He talked about how he had apparently known how to apparate before he could walk. He talked about how many cases he’d solved in the muggle world as well, and how they have a national holiday for him in Belgium.

Finally, he started teaching.

Unfortunately, Light’s prideful jibe bit him in the backside when it really did appear that L knew more than all the Hogwarts teachers combined (Whether or not he was good at teaching those things before he made all the girls cry was yet to be seen).

Light had a feeling they wouldn't be able to do any more monster experience either, considering there was no actual teacher in the room to help them with the hands on aspect.

Throughout the entire class, L ignored Light’s hand when he clearly knew the answer to every question. As if all of that wasn’t bad enough, at the end of class L assigned a five foot essay due at the end of the week.

_Five feet!_

Light could barely get out the door fast enough when class was over, and he pushed his way through the crowd into the hallway. He hadn't been this angry since the sorting hat had tried to put him in Slytherin! Takada caught up with him.

“I’m sorry, Light,” She said, in a soothing girlfriend way, rubbing circles on his back as she walked to keep pace with him, “He wasn't very nice to you, was he?”

Light tried not to shy away from her touch, despite his hatred of any sort of physical contact, especially not in public.

“Not very nice? Takada, he was _awful._ Who does he think he is? He bossed me around more than was necessary, refused to call on me the entire class, and embarrassed me in front of everyone because _I didn’t give him enough respect?_ I’m sorry, but that’s ridiculous. I’m probably going to be the top student in that class, and he’s not even going to care because he’s too caught up in his own pride. I hate him. I’d rather have last year’s teacher.”

The hypocrisy of his accusation that L was too prideful seemed to be lost on both of them. “I know, Light. You’ll show him though, right? You’ll get O’s on every assignment, and he’ll be forced to see you’re his best student.” She giggled, “ _One_ of the best students that is.”

A group of three girls who had been trying to flirt with Light earlier skipped past them, whispering about how “sexy” they thought their new DADA teacher was. How? They’d only seen him through a screen, and he was an ass the whole time! How could that possibly be sexy? He rolled his eyes.

This was not going to be a fun year, he could already tell. He didn’t have the time for this.

He walked to his next class, swearing to himself under his breath. Meanwhile, a small black notebook called to him from his backpack.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So anyway, I hope you liked this! I'm expecting this to be no longer than twenty or thirty chapters, (assuming I work up the motivation to actually keep writing this,) but special thanks to all the idiots on tumblr that hounded me until I published it!  
> It never would have happened had I not made a deal with the AU gods to retrieve the files on my laptop.


	2. The Notebook, by Nicolas Sparks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Light is bored and so are we, but at last! A magical notebook appears!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I followed through.

The moment he picked the curious black notebook up off the floor, he knew there was something different about it. Unfortunately, he didn’t have the time or the focus to study it and figure out what that thing was. _I’ll just head up to my room during lunch and look it over._ He shoved the notebook in his bag, and headed off to Defense Against the Dark Arts.

The notebook could have been a variety of different things, so he had no reason to suspect it was any sort of dark object. He’d heard about talented enough young wizards bewitching notebooks to fill up with the notes in class for you as the teacher talked. Though Light had never once in his life needed to take notes, he figured one of those could possibly come in handy. He could always sell it. There was also the possibility the notebook was one of those books people projected their memories into. It had become a phase a few years back, using magic somewhat like a pensive except much more dangerous and much less helpful. It was sort of like a diary in a way, except instead of words you transplanted emotions onto the page. They annoyed him, and he hoped it wasn’t the leftover 3rd year diary of some now 7th year.

Thus, his lack of concern over the matter allowed the notebook to go almost completely ignored throughout Defense Against the Dark Arts (although he _had_ been a bit busy with other things, like totally not being a trouble maker).

By the time Herbology with Professor Longbottom came around, however, the question of what the notebook could be began gnawing at the back of his mind more and more by the second. By now, Professor Longbottom was so old Light found it to be a miracle that he was still teaching at all. Sometimes he was afraid he would sneeze into his mandrakes and never come back up again. Still, he was a very jolly Herbology teacher and thus Light had a mild admiration for someone able to take so much passion in such a boring subject.

By the time he got to History of Magic, the black notebook was almost all he could think about. Who had dropped it? Would they be expecting it back, or looking for it? If he stole it, would that make him a thief? History of Magic was the most boring class in the world, which is a shame considering it had the potential to be fascinating with the right teacher. Unfortunately, Light did not have the right teacher. His teacher was a Wizard named Binns that had died a hundred or so years ago, and loved teaching so much that he just kept coming back to class again. It was entirely unfair that he couldn’t even have a live teacher. Even worse? Binns possessed the uncanny ability to utterly lose the interest of his audience in the first three words that came out of his mouth. His dusty, monotone voice and blank, indifferent visage didn’t help his presentation either.

Ten minutes into class, Light couldn’t take it anymore. His love for learning and ability to pay attention in class could only stretch so far. He dug around in his backpack a bit to find the leather notebook, looking around a bit to make sure his classmates were all busy before pulling it out and examining it.

 _Death Note_ was written on the front cover in large white letters, automatically dispelling the theory of it being a first year’s diary, unless it was an overly morbid first year just starting their emo phase. He opened it up only to see a list of strange rules written in the inside cover.

_The human whose name is written in this notebook shall die._

What? Light almost laughed out loud from shock. That was _not_ what he had expected to read. He was disappointed. So it _was_ some sort of random prank notebook after all. He was really hoping it would have been something a bit more exciting than just some prank an older kid was hoping someone younger would fall for, but at least he got a free notebook out of it. He chuckled a bit to himself. Cruel as it sounds, it probably would have been funny to see some poor kid fall for this. It sounded like one of those chain letters people sent to their friends in the post every morning in fourth year.

_Send this to your friend or Voldemort will appear at your bed wearing your robe tonight!_

There was no known magic in the Wizarding World that could make someone magically die just by writing their names down. Even The Killing Curse took a significant amount of skill, talent, focus, and passion, and that would be the closest someone could come.

_This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person’s face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected._

_If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person’s name it will happen._

_If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack._

Whatever. Hm. Such a disappointment.

He stuck the notebook back in his backpack to put it out of his mind, attempting to pay attention to Binns.

“The goblin wars of the late 1400s were some of the darkest times for the early Wizarding community…”

 How long until lunch again?

When class was excused, he practically shot out of his seat to go to lunch. He wasn’t even very hungry, he just knew that he was so completely bored that he might scream if he had to spend another second in that class.

Light wasn’t sure why he was so bored all the time. Was he always this cynical and tired, or was it a new thing? It seemed like he used to be excited about going to class all the time, but now it was all he could do just to stay in his seat and not walk out. Perhaps it was senioritis a year early?

He trudged to lunch, and sat himself down alone at the Ravenclaw table. He was almost immediately swarmed by his “friends” all talking about how great it was to be back for another year, before almost immediately entering into another deep discussion of rhetoric and order, which Light would occasionally jump in on just to let everyone know that he was still the smartest of the bunch.

That’s when the new kid entered the great hall, sitting completely alone and isolated in the corner. No one seemed to notice him at all, which was odd considering there had never been a student to enter Hogwarts midway through schooling as long as he had been there. He didn’t look like a first year though. In fact, he looked around Light’s age. Maybe even a 7th year?

“Who’s he?” Light asked the group.

A girl who’s name he’d forgotten (he’d known her for five years and she still hadn’t made an impression), said “His name is Harry Potter, apparently. No one’s really sure what house he’s in.”

Harry Potter? What a wild and crazy coincidence to share the same name with the most famous Wizard in the world... “He’s new?”

Everyone exchanged looks, not quite sure how to answer.

“No?” Said the same girl, “He’s been here since first year.”

“I swear to god he hasn’t been here since first year." Light responded, having never seen him before. 

Another girl chimed in, “No, I think she’s right; he’s been here since first year. May said that Laura’s roommate’s boyfriend’s sister used to have a crush on him in third year. I think.”

Light eyed the odd boy suspiciously. He wasn’t wearing a robe, just some ratty old jeans and a plain white long-sleeved tee-shirt. He was crouched oddly on the bench, eating nothing but a huge plate piled high with cakes and junk food. Light crinkled his nose. _Disgusting._ As a vegan, he always made it a point to have the perfect serving size for each type of food, and typically a nice apple for dessert!

Why was it Light had never seen him before?

“What house is he in?” Light asked, to blank stares. No one had an answer.

Between you and I, dear readers, no one knew who the hell the odd boy was. The boy seemed to know who they were, frequently saying hello and engaging the students in curious conversation. No one wanted to be the one rude person that didn’t remember the poor boy, and so they all pretended to know him. Mob mentality reminiscent of the old muggle tale. What was it? The Emperor’s New Clothes? This kid didn’t look like he’d ever had new clothes.

And so, Light left his comfortable social circle and decided he might as well try and make a friend. He was good at making friends, and it bothered him that there could be even a single person at the school that didn’t already love and admire him.

He slid onto the bench across from the stranger. Upon closer look, Light realized that the odd boy had dark, sunken eyes and looked like he hadn’t slept in days. His hair hadn’t been brushed either, and he would have been surprised if he was the type to brush his teeth every day.

He probably didn’t have any friends.

Light immediately decided the boy wasn’t very worthy of friendship. He considered getting up and leaving as soon as he sat down, but he figured it would only make things more awkward. He'd come too far already...The boy looked at him like he was an odd specimen on a lab table.

“Hi,” Light stretched out his hand for the boy to shake. The boy looked at his hand, as if considering shaking it, before deciding otherwise and taking another bite of his cake as if not sparing Light a second though. Light frowned, awkwardly putting his hand by his side again, offended that his boy hadn’t thought his hand good enough to shake. “I’m Light Yagami.”

“I know.” The boy spoke with complete disinterest, which irritated Light.

“Am I supposed to know you?”

“Probably not,” responded the boy, “I’m sure I’m of no consequence to someone as popular as Light Yagami.”

Light recognized passive aggressive behavior when he saw it, but this guy said it with a completely sincere expression. He frowned again. “So are you going to tell me your name?”

“Harry Potter.” The boy took another bite of his cake.

“I doubt it,” Light muttered under his breath, wishing the conversation would come to an end soon, but not in the mood to end it.

“What?”

He sighed, decided to at least play along.

“Alright Harry Potter,” He said, “What house are you in?”

“Does it matter?”

“Yes?”

“I don’t think it matters,” Harry Potter said, “The house system is ridiculous and probably rigged in the first place. It is of no consequence in the real world and does nothing but reinforce stereotypes and bigotry. I forgot where I was sorted three days after the sorting, and I don’t much care to find out.”

Alright then.

“Look, it was nice talking to you,” Light began, trying to phrase it in a way that didn’t sound mean, “But I think you’re right. We’re not exactly in the same social circle.”

“I’m not quite sure what Light Yagami is trying to say.”

“I’m saying I think I’m going to go back with my friends now.”

“Light Yagami has friends?” Harry Potter asked.

“ _Excuse you?”_

“It seems as though Light Yagami has many followers, but I estimate there is about a 64% chance that Light Yagami is too sociopathic to form strong and realistic bonds.”

“Who do you think you are?” Light was boiling now, not quite understand what sort of problem this odd student had with him. All Light did was attempt to be friendly, and here this ‘Harry Potter’ was being completely hostile with him. He was a complete freak!

“I’m not going to take this,” Light snapped, standing up from his spot at the table and dusting off his school robes. “You’re a freak, you know that? A complete freak! So if you don’t mind, I said I’m going back to my friends now.”

The boy jumped up as well, picking up his (newly and magically replenished) plate of cake to bring with him. “I’ll come along as well!” He began to follow Light as he stomped off.

Light stopped and turned back around to face the boy. “Why are you following me?” He demanded, “Just go back over there and eat your cake or something. We can just pretend this whole thing never happened, is that alright? Or would you rather wake up tomorrow with a babbling curse?”

“I’m sorry if Light Yagami took my words the wrong way. I was merely attempting to be sincere with my new friend. Perhaps I was a bit too forward? I apologize, although I assure you it seems as though Light is already afflicted with a babbling curse.”

Light took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and counted to ten, hoping that maybe when he opened his eyes the boy would be gone. He was _not_ in the mood for a new shadow.

No such luck.

Perhaps he could test out that mysterious fake killing notebook on this guy? No, no that was an awful decision. Harry Potter was obviously not his real name, and it was a very conspicuous fake name at that. A pathetic plea for attention, that’s all it was. Perhaps that was why Light was unfamiliar with the new student. Perhaps he’d just recently changed his name for attention? Either way, if Light attempted to kill him there was a high chance he would end up killing the real Harry Potter instead (although by now the wizard was so old it probably wouldn’t have made a difference anyhow).  

Wait, what was he thinking? He wasn’t seriously thinking about killing a boy just because he was a bit annoying, was he? Besides, it would be stupid to kill someone he knows. They could easily trace it back to him someday.

Not that the notebook actually worked.

“You know,” He finally said upon opening his eyes and discovering the boy still there, “I think I’m actually just going to go back into the Ravenclaw common room and finish up some homework. Perhaps I’ll see you later?”

The boy’s face fell in disappointment, and it was all Light could do to keep from rolling his eyes.

Light left without saying goodbye, and hurried up to his room, almost afraid the boy would follow him. See? This is why Light hated making new friends, and rarely introduced himself to anyone.

The boy was right though. Light _didn’t_ have any friends. I mean, he had Takada if that counted at all, and perhaps those Ravenclaw girls whose names he swore he would figure out one day. There was some Hufflepuff 7th year that was madly in love with him, but he did whatever he could to avoid her when necessary.

Yes, there was apparently a distinct difference between having friends, and being well liked. He wasn't sociopathic just because he doesn't  forge strong bonds, right? No. He likes Sayu and the rest of his family, so he at least has _some_ emotion. Besides, it’s not like he was a Slytherin or anything. He just hadn't really found the right person worthy of being friends with. There wasn’t anyone on his level, or anyone who could really keep up with him in conversation. Even the Ravenclaws, who were supposedly the smartest and most studious of the bunch, cared much more about book smarts than intangible ideas.

He fed the door the answer to the stupid riddle of the week (which had taken him only a half hour the first time), and went up to the room he shared with the four other boys in his year. Luckily there was no one up there, so he got a good amount of time to be alone. 

He looked at his watch. _1:30._ A lot of time, actually. He only had DADA, Herbology, and History on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Since it was his 6th year, all of his classes were technically optional once they got into NEWT levels. Of course he was taking all the classes suggested to become an Auror, but he had no real need for classes like Astronomy and most of the electives. He didn’t have Charms, Potions, or Transfiguration until Wednesdays and Fridays.  That meant for most of the day on Tuesday he had time to focus on his studies.

Maybe he could get a good start on that five foot essay for DADA in the four hours before dinner. What was it on again? The use of Dementors for Criminal Justice? Easy. Light had done research on this topic for hours last year just for the fun of it, and had several books on the subject.

_A Dementor is a non-being and a very dark creature considered to be one of the most dangerous creatures to inhabit the world. Dementors feed upon human happiness and cause despair to the highest degree to anything near them. They can also consume a person’s soul, leaving their victims in a permanent vegetative state._

_They cannot be destroyed, and hold no true loyalty to except to whomever provides them with the most people to feed off of._

_The Ministry of Magic employed Dementors as the guards of Azkaban prison, and though they were proven to be volatile and unstable in 1996 when Lord Voldemort managed to sway the creatures to his side, the Ministry has continued to use the creatures to torture high security prisoners._

_The Dementors have an origin darker than most creatures employed by the Ministry of Magic. They were discovered in the middle ages upon the North Sea island where the prison was later built, and were used by the dark wizard Ekrizdis who lured sailors to the island to torture and murder them. Their existence was revealed to the Wizarding World shortly after the death of Ekrizdis, and not wanting to disturb the colony, the Ministry voted to leave the creatures unchecked and unbothered._

_This continued until 1718 when Minster Rowle insisted on using Azkaban prison instead. The idea was to improve the Criminal Justice system by using Dementors as guards to save expense, time, and trouble. Azkaban remains the number one prison in the Wizarding World despite its unorthodox methods._

_Though this is called justice, the only truly just way to dispose of high security criminals is death. Using the Dementors to suck the souls out of criminals leaves them in a vegetative state, where they take up room and resources for the rest of their natural days. Beyond this, Dementors have a recent history of being untrustworthy, and could turn on the Wizard population at any time. It's also the most inhumane form of punishment discovered to date, and by using it..._

Light set down his quill and massaged his fingers. At five feet, this was going to be a killer essay. He really did mean to keep it as positive as possible, but he always got a bit pissed off thinking about how things were run. More so now than usual. Either way, it was a well-written essay and all his information was complete fact. He would probably add another foot worth of writing just by listing all the recent incidents of misbehaving Dementors and the statistics and numbers for wasted resources.

L wouldn’t like it, that was an almost guarantee, but considering there was no way he could fail this essay he figured it would at least be entertaining as well as an intellectual win.  

God, his hands hurt. He needed to take a break…

He looked at the notebook laying out next to him on the bed.

_It wouldn’t hurt just to try it out…Just for fun…As a joke, right? I mean, I’m bored. If it doesn’t work, nothing’s changed._

He needed to write some sort of absurd cause of death though, just so he would know it wasn’t a coincidence if it _did_ work. He wrote _Augustus Rookwood, tries to ride a dragon out of Azkaban, only to be eaten by it instead,_ in careful script, and waited. It was humorous, actually, and a little part of him hoped the notebook really did work.

He looked at the time. _3:00_. He tucked the notebook into his pants and covered it up with his shirt, before walking back down the stairs again and strolling into the Common Room to pick up one of the hundreds of books they had laying around.

Unfortunately, someone else was sitting in his favorite armchair, in their apparently typical impractical position.

“No way,” Light said, crossing his arms and standing in front of the boy, "You're not in Ravenclaw. There's no way you're in Ravenclaw. I swear, I have never seen you before today."

“Of course I’m not Ravenclaw.” Harry Potter said, “I told you already I don’t care about the house system.”

“Then how did you get in here?” Light’s voice was demanding, and had he stopped to think he might have realized how odd it was that his perfect mask seemed to slip with this boy and no one else. It was almost as though this ‘Harry Potter’ already saw through his bullshit, so why pretend? Or he was just so frustrated and irked by everything the boy did that he couldn’t help but be uncharacteristically rude.

“The password isn’t that hard to figure out. I know all the passwords, actually. I’m sure someone as brilliant as my new friend Light Yagami would agree? Tell me, how do you find the Gryffindor Common Room to be?”

“We’re not friends,” Light said, grabbing the book the boy was reading and stomping back up the stairs.

“How childish…” Harry Potter muttered, watching him walk away before picking up another book.

Back in his room, Light glanced down at the book the boy had been reading, hoping it was at least something interesting.

_How to solve a case like L! A complete guide written by the detective himself!_

It was all he could do not to scream.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for bashing my own fic and swearing to never post it because apparently it was fairly well received. Quick special thanks to stfu-the-fuck-up on tumblr because she has literally sat over my shoulder for the last two days chanting "update update update post it post it post it post it post it" non stop. It is also this extreme pressure that keeps it from being entirely edited.  
> So yeah sorry this note is kind of long and sorry this chapter is a bit boring and I hope you enjoy it? Feel free to criticize me or compliment me any time, using nice friendly words.


	3. It's Ok, Voldemort Couldn't Either

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> L is confused, Light dabbles in murder, and Takada spills Light's secret. No, not that one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *throws glitter* enjoy this mess

 

For the first time in his life, L was at a complete loss of what to do. For _not_ the first time in his life, the central problem was not his fault.

“How did you manage to lose the _most dangerous dark object the Wizarding World had ever known_!?” He’d heard the Minister of Magic yell at his subordinates, completely baffled as to how anyone could be so stupid. _Especially_ in the Department of Mysteries, who were supposed to be great at things like…well… _hiding mysteries._ He almost wished they had given the job to the Auror Department.

Luckily, it wasn’t L’s job to do the yelling. It was rarely every L’s job to do the yelling, which was excellent considering how inept he was at dealing with people anywhere except through a screen.

The Department of Mysteries held a lot of dangerous objects, including but not limited to: the veil that separates life and death, every single prophecy ever made about anyone, the secret stash of sentient brains of about a dozen dark wizards, and a notebook of unknown magical ability that could kill anyone by writing nothing but a name. The latter item happened to be one of the most important items in their possession, and the Department had the job of keeping The Death Note safe and hidden as they attempted to figure out its scope as well as the source of its magic.

They had done a good job of keeping it safe for the last two hundred years, though the only thing they managed to find out was that it was almost certainly the mysterious method of killing used by a dark wizard who had lived a century or two before. It didn’t make sense to L for the notebook to just get up and walk away. He had taken on the case to figure it out, and expected it to be one of the easier things he had done in his career. How hard could it be to find a notebook?

“Thank you Prime Minister, but I believe I can take it from here.” L looked through his computer screen at the odd group of people he saw. “Now, can someone explain to me how the notebook left the Ministry in the first place?”

The men exchanged nervous looks, before a stick-thin man with a balding head stepped forward.

“As you doubtless know,” He began, beginning with a poor attempt at flattery, “There was an invasion in the Department of Mysteries around 70 years ago, and many of our doors and rooms were destroyed. When He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named—“

“Voldemort,” L interrupted.

The man looked hesitantly at his co-workers, before continuing, “— _Voldemort_ took over the Ministry, much of our paperwork was burned and destroyed by members of the Order of The Phoenix in an attempt to hide dangerous objects from detection.”

“And that is where you lost track of the notebook?” L asked.

“That’s where we… _they…_ lost track of the notebook.”

The detective sighed, “And it’s taken you 70 years to bring this to attention?”

“Well…” Another man stepped forward, “We actually just discovered undestroyed paperwork from the time, reaffirming the existence of the notebook. We decided to begin our research on the notebook again, before discovering its absence. “

The thin man jumped in again, “We believe the notebook might have found sanctuary at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry at some point in time, possibly between the years of 1996-2000.”

L could barely believe what they were telling him. “And why did you think it was good idea to send a _magical killing notebook_ to a school full of _children_?”

“With all due respect, Hogwarts has almost always been the safest and most secure location in the entire Wizarding World.”

“Not now that you’ve accidentally lost a dark magical object in a school full of children!” L could barely believe the stupidity of the people around him. “I’m not taking the case.”

The Minister’s eyes widened, and all the men looked at each other. They had been relying on ‘The Great L’ for help, for whatever reason.

“L, you have to understand that this is a matter of not only national but also world security.” The Minister was hoping to sway L over to his side, if not by money or interest than at least by guilting him into it.

“You’re not offering me enough money, there’s not enough victims yet for it to be interesting, and it’s a job you could easily send the Auror Department to take care of. I’m not going to infiltrate Hogwarts just to snoop around for a notebook. Goodbye, Minister.” He reached to shut off his monitor before a loud ‘Stop!’ halted him. He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Yes?”

“We believe the notebook is a Horcrux.”

And so, The Great Detective L took on a teaching position at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft of Wizardry to scope out personality profiles for the students. He also donned the alias Harry Potter to protect him from being killed by the notebook, as well as to have ground level access to classrooms and libraries and corridors. He didn’t go to classes, he didn’t bother being sorted, and he set up a newly repaired and well hidden Room of Requirement.

He was glad he was literally too cool for school, because he found after the first day there that it wasn’t the place for him. He didn’t bother going to any classes, and he definitely didn’t do any homework, but his disguise worked nevertheless. His main source of amusement, unfortunately for the other students, was psychologically terrifying his students on the first day of class.

He was going to be the best teacher in the entire world, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t have a little bit of fun while doing it. He remembered after his first period class why he decided to become a detective and Auror rather than a teacher. There weren’t very many students who interested him, short of some Hufflepuff named Matsuda who asked immediately after class for extra credit, and some suck up named Light Yagami.

He was fascinated by Light Yagami, the boy who would show up ten minutes early to class merely to attempt to gain the favor of his new teacher. He noticed that his behavior around people was drastically different than his behavior when he was alone, almost as though he were wearing a mask. L decided that the most fun part of first period would be seeing how hard he would have to work to break that mask.

L’s current hypothesis surrounding the notebook was that it had not yet been discovered by a student, and if it had been picked up by a student it was one much too afraid to test it out.

This hypothesis shattered after the first death.

When the call came in from the ministry, he quickly turned on the voice modifier and answered the call.

“It might not be the notebook, but considering the…unlikeliness of the death, it is best to be aware of the situation.”

“Unlikeliness?”

“A former Death Eater attempted to escape Azkaban on a dragon, but the dragon ate him before he got off the island.”

“Oh…” It certainly wasn’t the strangest case he had experienced, but the chances of this happening naturally were _very_ slim. “I’ll keep an eye open.”

* * *

 

It was in the papers next morning. The Daily Prophet had a field day with the story, reporting on how the dragon had gotten to Azkaban in the first place, and what caused a wizard as old as Augustus Rookwood to consider the dragon as a viable means of escape after sixty years in Azkaban.

Light woke up at his usual time, took one look at the notebook, and decided last minute to take it with him again today. He slipped the notebook in his pants, for some reason being a bit too protective of it to just leave it in his book bag, and left for breakfast.

When he saw the paper, however, his heart plummeted down into his chest.

_Augustus Rookwood tries to ride a dragon out of Azkaban only to be eaten by it instead at 5pm_

It had to be a coincidence. It had to be. Things like this didn’t just happen, even in the magical world. There were no magical spells that could create a notebook that could kill someone just by knowing their name and face. The magic would have had to be old. _Really_ old. He brushed his hand across the notebook again, making sure it was still there.

He glanced down at the paper again, reading the little facts that they were able to disclose mixed with the mainly opinion piece.

He quietly excused himself to the bathroom, threw up, and returned to the table where his friends sat.

“It’s the weirdest thing,” a friend was saying, “It just came out of nowhere, too. What are the chances a dragon would escape from the habitat in Romania just as Rookwood was attempting his escape from Azkaban?”

“I don’t know,” said another, “But I suppose it’s a good thing he died before escaping. _I’d_ still be terrified having him out and about no matter _how_ old he was. He had it coming, if you ask me.”

It was an accident. It was clearly an accident. So what if it wasn’t a coincidence? It was an accident, and it was completely impossible to trace it back to him. He tried to breathe deeply, expelling from his mind the thoughts that kept creeping back in screaming ‘ _Murderer! Murderer!’_

So what if he killed Rookwood? It was better for the man anyway. It was either be devoured by a dragon quickly and easily, or sit in pain and misery reliving the worst years of his life over and over again until he died of old age. He would be thanking Light if he could. _And maybe when I see him in hell he’ll get a chance to._

“What’s a matter with you, Yagami?” Someone asked.

Light pushed himself away from the table and murmured an excuse about a forgotten textbook. He raced back to the dorm, hoping no one would stop him to try and chat on the way. When he got to the room, he checked the beds to make sure no one was still in the room.

He was alone. That was good. He quickly locked the door and did a few quieting charms just in case, then pulled the notebook from its spot tucked in his pants and threw it on the bed, taking a seat next to it and running his fingers through his hair. What on earth was he going to do with a murder notebook? He couldn’t keep it, that was for sure, but it might be worse if he brought it to someone else.

 _Should I take it to the ministry? No, no I don’t trust them not to do worse with this. If I take it to the school, I could get in trouble. I’d be a_ murderer _and I can’t go to Azkaban, I_ can’t _._

He had twenty-two minutes to get to class.

_I’ll put the notebook in my chest for now. It’s not like anyone will find it, they don’t even know what they’re looking for. To the rest of the world this was a freak accident, and it will stay that way. When I get back tonight I’ll wait for everyone to go to bed, and then…I’ll burn it. For now, I’ll try my best to forget about it._

He looked in the mirror, fixed his hair, straightened his tie, fixed the tuck in his shirt, took five deep breaths, and removed the charms from the door. Then, he went to class.

* * *

 

Light slipped into his old seat in DADA, right next to Takada. She was supposedly giving him the cold shoulder, but doing it so overtly that he knew she was waiting for him to ask her why. _I don’t have the time nor patience to deal with this right now._ He ignored her.

Deciding she was tired of the game, she turned in her chair to face him. “I heard Misa Amane talking earlier.”

Light sighed, knowing what conversation was probably going to follow, but wishing to avoid it all the same. “And did Misa Amane have something to say for once?”

Takada scrunched up her face as if she were disgusted with him. “Oh, so now you cheat on your girlfriend then bash the bitch you did it with and pretend it never happened? You’re disgusting, Light Yagami.”

Yeah, as if she wouldn’t have done anything better. Besides, Light hadn’t even _considered_ messing around with Misa Amane. The 7th year Hufflepuff wasn’t even in his world, and he hadn’t ever said more than five words to her.

“I’m sorry, Kiyomi,” He said, his voice steady as he analyzed the situation to figure out the best way to calm the furious girl down before class started. “I have no idea what you’re going on about. I’m not even interested in Misa.”

“You’re not even interested in her?” Takada whispered to him, just quietly enough to make it sound like a secret, but just loud enough that she knew everyone heard it anyway. “Do I mean that little to you, that you would throw this all away for some girl you don’t even care about?”

A few people turned their heads in his direction. Honestly, Light was almost positive Takada would not have actually cared had Light cheated on her, considering they were both in the relationship more for reputations sake than anything else. They barely talked outside of class, and only occasionally sat near each other at meals. It was just like the Slytherin side of Takada to use a rumor like this to try to make Light feel indebted to her, if that was even what this was. There was no other reason to make such a show of herself, aside from in hopes of getting attention or sympathy. It was almost enough to make Light decide having girlfriends wasn’t worth it.

“Look, Kiyomi, you know I love you, but can we talk about this later? You’re making a bit of a scene, and I don’t even know Mi—“

The screen at the front of the room lit up, and L appeared, fifteen minutes late to class with no explanation. Everyone quieted, including Takada, who sent Light one last self-righteous look before pulling out her notes. L had no apologies for being late, he just started talking as if he was perfectly on time, jumping right into the material.

Light couldn’t help but feel a bit relieved once class started. He needed a reprieve from Takada attempting to create unneeded drama, and honestly when L hadn’t appeared on time, he was beginning to get just a bit paranoid. Murder does that to you, I suppose. _It wasn’t murder. It was charity. He had it coming._

“Light-kun,” L said, stopping suddenly in the middle of his lecture on the proper uses of advanced defensive spells. “Why are you not sitting in your assigned seat?”

Light stiffened, and just barely stopped himself from snapping his pencil. “Hogwarts classes don’t typically have assigned seats, Professor L.”

“Hmm, yes.” L began, “But I distinctly remember assigning Light-kun a seat last class. Does Light-kun still think he knows better than the smartest wizard of the last century?”

“No, _professor._ ” Light said, grabbing his books and moving toward the front, ignoring the snickering of his petty classmates.

“Good, now if Light-kun could please know his place from now on we can continue with our lesson.”

The pencil snapped.

“In two weeks we will be doing our first hands on lesson of the year. Just a warning, the lesson will be based around confronting your worst fears, and we _will_ be working with boggarts. I take it you have had similar lessons in the past? Originally, it should be in the curriculum for third years.”

He was met with blank, confused faces.

“Your previous teacher never went over boggarts with you? I was under the impression you could all practice something as easy as the Riddikulus curse. I take it no one has been over the unforgivables either? No, no probably not. Those are a bit more advanced. Can anyone explain to me what the Riddikulus curse does?”

Light raised his hand.

“No one else? Fine, Light-kun? Would you care to explain to the class?”

 _There’s that damned nickname again._ “The Riddikulus curse is used against boggarts to transform something terrifying into something, pardon the pun, ridiculous. It’s meant to cause laughter, and thus rid the Bogart of its power.”

“Well done. One point to Ravenclaw. Light-kun, in two weeks you can be the first to conquer your fear for the class. Now, the key to casting this spell is similar to the Patronus charm in that the caster has to replace their fear with something different. In that case of the Patronus charm, you would use your happiest memory. Similarly, with Riddikulus you must use your best efforts and experience to transform fear into laughter. Now, whether or not you ever come face to face with a Bogart, the ability to cast this charm will doubtless be a benefit to you all. Considering you are all in NEWT level Defense Against the Dark Arts, there’s a safe bet many of you will become Aurors. In that case, you’ll find that during house raids Bogarts tend to hide in the dark dusty closets of dark wizards. There always tends to be fear there.”

Light was going to be the first to let the entire class see his greatest fear, and he couldn’t get past the phrase _similar to the Patronus charm._ They’d all learned the charm last year on a day where thirty Aurors from the ministry brought one Dementor out to Hogwarts after their 5th year teacher pulled a few strings. Having experienced a Dementor first hand, Light had become even more certain he never wanted to see one again. They were horrible, cruel creatures and Light never wanted anything to do with them. Of course he might just be a bit bitter toward them because he was the only person in his year without a Patronus.

And now, he’s going to have to face his worst fear in front of the entire class knowing there was a distinct possibility he would be the only one who cannot fight it. It would shatter his reputation. L will doubtless fail him and make fun of him. What kind of a powerful wizard can’t even cast a Patronus? At the time, people whispered that it meant he was going to become a dark wizard. Light claimed he was sick with a terrible cold, excused himself to the infirmary, and told anyone who asked about his Patronus that the cold had made him too weak.

He spent hours after school practicing by himself near the lake. He searched his mind for the happiest memory he could think of. He hated that he couldn’t think of a memory strong enough. Why? His life wasn’t terrible. He’d had a wonderful childhood, his family loved him, he had lots of friends, he was very talented and got great grades, and he had a picturesque life. It wasn’t like he was dark in any way, nor was he in any way depressed or unhappy.

Still, nothing was powerful enough. At some point he gave up.

He was jolted back to reality by L’s cold synthesized voice saying “How many of you have successfully cast the Patronus charm?”

Everyone raised their hands. Light, determined not to drop his mask as the perfect student, raised his hand as well.

“Excellent,” L continued, “That means your teacher last year at least did _something_ right. Now, how many of you have successfully conjured a fully corporeal Patronus?”

Only three or four people put their hands down at this question, and Light was not one of them. It had been months, and by now no one would be surprised if he had learned to cast one, if they’d ever challenged his lie in the first place.

“Light-kun.” L called, and Light cursed at L’s determination to make Light a target in class.

Light tried to keep out of his tone the venom that tended to soak into his tone when he said L’s name. “Yes, Professor L?”

“I have been pleasantly surprised to find that you are not an altogether awful student, Light-kun. Would you like to share with the class the form your Patronus takes on?”

“I would rather not, Professor.”

“Oh?” L’s voice seemed to go up at the end, surprised that Light had missed an opportunity to show off. “Unfortunately Light-kun, phrasing my request as a question was misleading, as I was merely giving you the illusion of a choice. You’ve raised your hand, now please share with the class what form your Patronus takes.”

For the first time since hiding it away, Light was tempted to dig out that notebook.

Should he make one up? He’s already hesitated too long. Damn it. Now no matter what he says he’ll sound stupid.

“If your Patronus takes the form of a bunny or a kitten or some other small cute animal, I’m sure everyone in this class is mature enough to know not to laugh, if that’s why you’re embarrassed Light-kun.”

“It’s not a bunny,” He tried to keep his frustration out of his voice, “that’s not why I hesitated I—“

“Then why did you hesitate, Light-kun?” He sounded like he was trying to keep laughter from his voice. Like he knew. _Bastard._

Takada raised her hand from a few rows back.

Light froze in his seat. She wouldn’t dare, would she? Light knew she would. He didn’t know many people who felt a need to protect their pride as much as Kiyomi Takada. If she had in any way felt as though any dalliances Light had with Misa Amane would damage her reputation, she would make sure Light knew and regretted it.

“Yes, you there in the back. Do you have something to add?”

“Yes, professor. If I remember correctly from last year, Light Yagami seems to be incapable of casting the Patronus charm. He was the only one in our year who could not at least make a decent attempt.”

_Why did I leave that damn notebook in my trunk?_

Heads turned toward Light, and it seemed to spark the memory for everyone else, who glanced at Light in expectancy.

“Light-kun,” L responded, sounding more amused than Light could stomach, “Is this true? Are you incapable of casting the Patronus charm?”

“Well—“

“Ten points from Ravenclaw for lying to me in class.” _What?_ The bastard would award merely one single point to him for being the only one in his class to know a spell, but he would take away a full ten points for lying? There was no scale for this. “And another five points for wasting my precious time trying to cover up your incompetence, Light-kun.”

Incompetence? No one who knew Light could honestly say incompetence was a problem with him.

L called on a Slytherin girl behind him, asking what her Patronus was. She said hers was a large black bear. Then, he called on everyone who had raised their hands and had them say what theirs was. Light would have bet a small fortune that that little rabbit trail hadn’t been in the original lesson plans.

He turned, and saw Takada flashing her winning smile at him. Her Patronus was a silver fox.

He tried to focus the rest of class, but most of his attention was placed on wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. Still, he took notes even though he didn’t need to and raised his hand even though he wasn’t called on for the rest of class.

“And remember to place all your essays on the desk in the front face down on your way out. I will grade them, and have them returned to you at the beginning of next class.” The screen shut off, dashing any of Light’s hopes for confronting him after class.

Takada went to walk alongside him on his way out. “I’m sorry Light, I had no idea he would be that harsh with you.”

Light almost scoffed. _Of course you did, that’s why you said it._

She attempted to reach out to him and grab onto his arm, but he shrugged her off.

“Light?” She stopped him, “I’m willing to put it all past us if you are.”

Of course she’s ready to put it in the past, now that _she_ got to have the last word.

“I’m sorry, Takada,” he pushed her away, “I just can’t be in a relationship with someone who doesn’t trust me. I’m sure you understand.”

“But Light--!”

He continued on his way, ignoring her attempts to talk it out. Girlfriends were overrated, and if really necessary he could easily find a new one. What he really needed was damage control on the last hour, and what he _wanted_ to do was grab his notebook from upstairs and write a few names in it.

 _Hold on, when did I start thinking of it as_ my _notebook? And when did the idea of murder become the first one that flits through my head when something goes wrong? It’s just been a bad day, that’s all. Everyone thinks thoughts like that from time to time…_

But _everyone_ doesn’t have access to a non-traceable murder weapon.

He cleared his mind and walked to History of Magic, pulling out his tutoring schedule in the hopes that he could distract himself. Light was determined to be Head Boy next year, and even though it was almost a guarantee, the more volunteer hours he could collect the better. Tutoring came easy to him, and his transfiguration teacher thought the idea was wonderful when he first suggested it to her. Now that a new school year had started, he’d received the new list of first and second years he’d be tutoring.

He slid into his seat, and checked the list. When he saw the number of students this year, he tried not to be too disappointed. Usually he was tutoring up to 10 students at a time, and sometimes more in his group sessions. This time, only a few students were assigned to him. _Linda, Mello, Matt, and Near._ He was looking forward to it.

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewrote this chapter three times with three different directions before just giving up altogether. Hogwarts!AUs are fun. Special thanks goes to Erin for fixing my dreadful capitalization issues, the academy, and Light's extra large forehead.  
> Next chapter will feature fake student L bothering Light, Mello and Near bothering Light, the Ministry of Magic bothering Light, Light's sister bothering Light, and just about everyone bothering Light, now that I think about it.


	4. Oops, I Did it Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Light imparts his knowledge of Transfiguration upon the future generation of Hogwarts students (Ft. Near, Mello, Matt, and Linda).

“Light Yagami!” Called Harry Potter from across the hall, in a tone that sounded as if the student was surprised and excited to see him. It confused Light, who had previously believed they had come to the understanding that they did not like each other. Apparently, he was wrong. It confused him, and he did not like it.

Light continued walking, ignoring the disheveled student who jogged to the pace Light was keeping.

“Are you on your way to the library?” The boy asked. Light considered lying, but decided against it, somehow feeling as though the other boy would know.

“Yeah.” He answered in a tone that was obviously hostile, but if Harry Potter picked up on it he showed no indication.

“Wonderful! I’m headed there as well! I suppose you have an off period now, too?”

“Do you ever go to class?” Light asked, realizing that he rarely ever saw the boy in a classroom setting. He already regretted approaching him before at lunch, considering now it seemed as though the boy was convinced they were best friends.

That always seemed to happen to Light when he was younger. He was such a good person that he would always include other kids even when no one else would. Unfortunately, they always stuck to him like glue because he was the only one who acted pleasant to them and he always ended up having to hang around a bunch of idiots all the time, or risk looking like a huge jerk. The problem must be inherent to his good and moral nature, because here he was again, stuck with someone who had absolutely no social graces simply because Light Yagami was the only one who decided to be nice to the poor boy.

Sometimes, it can be a true struggle to be one of the few truly morally upright citizens of the magical community.

(He ignored the little part of himself that said _you cannot be a moral citizen if you’re also a murderer_ , in favor of the part of him that responded _there’s a difference between murder, and killing._ )

So, he ended up spending his afternoon stuck at a table in the back of the library with no one but him and this frog looking freak, who refused to sit normally no matter how many times Light asked him to. It was horribly embarrassing.

Even worse, while Light was pouring endlessly over his Arithmancy textbook in an attempt to wrap his brain around the new charts, Harry Potter seemed to be goofing off with some ‘biography’ of the detective L, written by someone who obviously had no idea what they were talking about. The frog would read, laugh out loud in the most annoyingly fake way, and then scribble in the margins.

For most of the afternoon, however, he interrupted Light’s studies constantly with questions, comments, and observations.

“I heard a bit of interesting gossip this morning, Light Yagami.”

“Oh really?” Light responded in a poor job of feigning interest. He had grown used to the frog using his full name at all times.

“Yes, and this piece of gossip actually revolves around _you_. Have you heard it at all? Apparently, _you_ can’t cast the Patronus charm.”

Light stiffened, counting to ten in his head and trying to keep his expression neutral.

_I don’t want to talk about this right now. I don’t want to talk about this with him. I want this to disappear._

Leave it to the fake Harry Potter to find his only Achilles heel at the moment.

“Yes,” the frog continued, “Apparently, not only can you not cast the Patronus charm, but you also lied to Professor L as well as your entire Defense Against the Dark Arts class about it. Of course, at first I told them all it was completely absurd. Then, upon rethinking my original analysis of Light Yagami, I realized it made perfect sense for someone with sociopathic tendencies such as yourself to be unable to cast a Patronus charm. I’m sure no one would blame you if you were to simply explain that you do not have the capacity to feel an emotion strong enough to drive away Dementors, don’t you agree?”

“For the last time, _Harry Potter_ , I’m not a sociopath.”

“Hm. Perhaps it might be that you simply cannot find a thought happy enough? That theory is quite a bit darker, isn’t it? Still, it might also account for some of your behavioral issues.”

“Can you stop analyzing me now so I can get back to my charts?” Light asked, gesturing to his textbooks and trying his hardest not to strangle the boy.

“Oh, of course, of course. I would never purposefully seek to bother my first friend.”

Light stiffened when the frog called him his first friend, feeling uncomfortable and terrible all over without knowing quite why. He hated the boy, so why did he feel a strange stab of pity towards someone who had spent the last five minutes mocking him? There was no way he _didn’t_ know he was bothering him. Still…his first friend? He in no way considers the frog a friend, but maybe—

“Then again, if you’re feeling upset about not being able to cast a Patronus, there have been plenty of powerful wizards who couldn’t cast one.””

“Really?” Light asked, curiosity piqued. He considered doing research on the subject, but since discovering he couldn’t cast one he had no interest in even hearing the word. It was better to pretend the spell did not exist at all than to admit he couldn’t do it.

“Really! It’s not quite as rare as you would think. Voldemort couldn’t cast a Patronus, and neither could Herpo the Foul or Morgana le Fey.”

Light stood up and pointed to the door of the library. “That’s it. You’re leaving. You’re leaving right now.”

“I’m not sure why Light Yagami believes he has a right to tell me where and where not to be in Hogwarts castle. I was only trying to help comfort my friend. And sit down, you’re making a scene in the library and you just spilled my tea.”

“You’re not supposed to have food in the library anyway!” Light whisper yelled, plopping back down again. “And if implying, if not flat out saying, that I’m a dark wizard just because I can’t cast a Patronus is your way of comforting me, then I want absolutely no part of your friendship. Not that I wanted much of your friendship in the first place.”

“Hm, Light Yagami has a temper and an aversion to self-help as well. That certainly helps my analysis on why you have such a hard time making friends.”

“I have lots of friends!”

“Hm, sure you do, of course, of course.” Light could tell the other boy was just barely stifling laughter, and it only infuriated him more.

“You know nothing about me,” Light responded.

The frog brought a finger to his mouth, and began chewing on the nail. “You’re right, of course. Why did you quit the Quidditch Team? I hear you were quite the Keeper.”

“I’m leaving.”

Light stood up again, leaving his half completed charts at the table and heading towards the door of the library. He needed to get out, and he felt a strong pull towards his dorm.

He’d had a bad day, he’d been embarrassed in front of everyone, he’d almost lost his cool again, and it was only the first week of the school year. He wanted to lie down on his bed, maybe write a letter to his parents, and maybe…maybe…

* * *

 

When he arrived in his room he was thankful to find there was no one else in there. He liked being alone, especially when troubled. He pulled out a quill and paper. Then, realizing he didn’t quite know what to write in the first place, he sighed and stared at the wall.

Before he knew it, he had grabbed the Death Note from its poor hiding place and had opened it up to a blank page.

_What am I doing?_ He thought, at the same time as he began filling the page.

Somehow, everything felt better.

He hated himself. He hated himself. He hated himself, and he was filled again with the overwhelming urge to burn the notebook, or rip it up, or something.

_I was upset, I was upset, I was upset and now I’ve killed four more people. What’s wrong with me?_

No. He took a deep breath, reforming the story and his beliefs in a way that rested better in his mind. No, he was upset, and so to relieve his stress he dedicated a few moments to relieving the pain of others by putting prisoners out of their misery and soothing the hearts of the public, so long awaiting their tormentors retribution.

Yes, that sounded much better.

But when had he shifted from his plan to burn the notebook, to easily writing with it again no problem? He needed to clear his mind again.

He shoved the notebook back in his chest and brought forth the paper he had pulled from it earlier.

_~~Dear~~_ _Mother,_

_~~I miss both of you~~. Have things been going well for you? I’m ~~having a wonderful time~~ learning a lot at Hogwarts so far this year. We’ve gotten a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher again. ~~I may have gotten in a bit of trouble in his first two days of class, but~~ we don’t see eye to eye on most things. I’m sure his teaching style would interest dad. You remember the girl I was seeing over the summer? The one with the internship at The Daily Prophet? We broke up, but ~~I was never serious about her~~ it was mutual, and there’s been no fuss. _

_Don’t feel obligated to write back right away, I just thought I would let you know how my first few days have gone._

_~~I love you both.~~ _

_Tell dad to let me in on any interesting cases he legally can in the Aurors office, I want to continue studying for a career in that even while at Hogwarts. He understands._

_-Light_

He folded the letter and applied the wax seal his father had bought him as a gift the year before, and checked the time.

_Shit._ He’d gotten so distracted he’d almost completely forgotten about his tutoring session, and now he was running five minutes late. He grabbed his things and hurried out the door to the direction of the library again. Luckily, the Ravenclaw dorms were located fairly close to the library, and the time he got there he was only 8 minutes late.

* * *

 

His four ‘students’ were staring at him. Light prided himself on the fact that he rarely judged others based on their appearances, but even he had to admit it was an odd group of children. He should have guessed that by nature of some of the names he was given on the list. Who would name a kid Mello? It’s just cruel. One boy had a stupid haircut and a girlish frame, yet clearly still had the ‘I’m a tough guy’ attitude that most of the younger Slytherins have. From the looks of him, he was a pugnacious boy who would attempt to fight even the sun if he thought it too bright. He had to be a Slytherin, if only by nature of how much leather he attempted to put on his body while still loosely complying with the dress code. He was talking a million miles an hour to some other kid, a redhead who was barely paying attention. A girl sat two seats away from both of them, doodling in her notebook, while a little white pale white haired Ravenclaw boy sat across from her, flying little toy Quidditch players with his wand.

“You’re 8 and a half minutes late,” The white haired boy said, “If you had been two minutes later I would have gone to fetch a teacher. They probably would have assigned us to a better tutor.”

The blonde haired boy with the stupid haircut pulled out his wand and sent one of the pale boy’s brooms plummeting to the ground. “Or we all just could’ve jacked off in the library until the time was up and then just _said_ we studied.”

The redhead let out a hoot and began to laugh.

“What’s so funny, Matt?” The blonde replied, crossing his arms. “As if you wouldn’t rather jack off than study.”

“Oh, I would _definitely_ rather jerk off than study, but I _think_ a better word for the situation would be ‘goof off’ or ‘mess around.’”

The blood rushed to the blonde’s face as he understood his mistake, and he quickly muttered something along the lines of “buzz off, Matt” before Light cut in.

“Sorry to interrupt your playtime, but I really do need to start tutoring you all.” The pale kid raised his hand to ask a question, but Light grit his teeth and said, “And I promise I won’t be late again,” causing the pale kid to put his hand back down again.

“Now,” He began, “What are all your names?”

“I’m Mello, and he’s Matt.” The blonde spoke for redhead, who had been charming a feather to float up in the air.

“I’m Linda,” The girl said, in a quiet voice. At this point, she was Light’s favorite by nature of the fact that she seemed to be the quietest and most normal of the bunch.

“I’m Nate River, but everyone calls me Near so that is probably what is written on your sheet,” The pale boy said, “And his name isn’t really Mello, its Mihael Keehl.”

“Shut up, Near, I’m trying to go by Mello now.”

“Mello is a stupid nickname. Besides, you’re _not_ mellow in the slightest. The definition of mellow is mature, and softened, and you’re the complete opposite.”

“Well Near is an even _stupider_ nickname. What’s it even supposed to mean?”

“It’s a metaphor.”

Linda sighed, dropping her head down on the table for a nap.

“A metaphor? What are you, thirty? You’re so pretentious and you don’t even know what you’re saying.”

Matt cut in as well, “At least my nickname makes sense.”

Light looked down at his sheet again. _Mello, Near, Matt, Linda._ “You have a nickname, too?” He asked Matt.

“His real name is Mail Jeevas,” Said Mello, “So I think you can understand why he would want to go by a nickname.”

Light groaned, “Alright, so which ones of you are going by nicknames instead of your actual names?” It was hard to get straight. He’d had twice as many kids to tutor in Transfiguration last year, and still that group had been much easier than this one so far.

All four kids raised their hands.

“Wait, Linda is a nickname too?” He asked, to which the little girl nodded her head. “What’s your real name?”

“I’m not saying,” She said, and the other boys nodded as well.

“Er...alright then,” Light said, making the executive decision to put them back on track towards studying. “You’re all here because you failed last year’s transfiguration class, correct?”

“That would be correct.” Near responded.

“Yet almost all of you were in the top of your other classes, highlighting a trouble with Transfiguration in particular that warrants a tutor.”

“That would also be correct.”

“I didn’t fail because I’m stupid, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Mello grumbled.

“Then why _did_ you fail?” Asked Light, not believing Mello’s words for a second.

Near spoke for them, “Both he and Matt failed because Transfiguration is the class Gryffindor’s and Slytherins share together, and they spend the entire class period every day goofing off instead of actually paying attention to the teacher, because for some reason they feel as though Transfiguration is somehow not as important as the other subjects.”

“I can speak for myself, _thanks_ ,” Mello spat at Near, before facing Light again. “Me and Matt both failed because we goofed off instead of actually paying attention to the teacher.”

_What a surprise_.

“And you?” Light asked Near.

“I had the misfortune of sitting right behind them.” Near responded.

“And Linda?”

“I’m just not very good at transfiguration.” Linda looked sheepish, as if embarrassed that she failed her first year of transfiguration simply because she wasn’t as smart as the others.

“Linda’s the best student in charms, but transfiguration is simply not her strong suit. She’s a genius, but doesn’t like to brag about herself,” Near explained, before picking up his wand and continuing his game.

Light decided that considering his crew of kids, who all appeared to be very intelligent children with the minor flaw of being so insufferably arrogant they feel they do not need to study, the best course of action would be to begin teaching study skills rather than transfiguration.

“Your biggest weaknesses seem to be in not paying attention,” He explained, “So though I can’t exactly _make_ you do anything, I highly suggest all of you sit on the front row, and you two” he pointed at Matt and Mello “should really sit apart from each other if you want to get anything done. I know you might think Transfiguration is hard, or boring, or whatever, but I honestly don’t know how anyone could _not_ be interested in the subject. Think about what you’re doing! You’re physically transforming one object into another object. Think about all the things you can do with that in the future. You might all think you’re above taking notes, but even _I_ take notes in all my classes.” Light never took notes in any of his classes, because he _is_ above taking notes, but the children need not know that.

Near raised his hand. Light sighed. “Yes?”

“What were your scores on the OWL exams last year?” Near asked, apparently not realizing in the slightest the rudeness of the question.

Light stared at him, shocked that he would have the temerity to ask for a tutors test scores. “Excuse me?” He asked.

“Before I decide whether or not to tune you out, I would like to know what your test scores were to make sure you are a viable tutor.”

“For your information,” Light began, trying not to let the insults of 12 year olds effect his composure, “I happened to have the highest test scores of anyone at the school, as well as having the top grades for every single one of my classes. I’m smarter than you, and that’s all that matters. I would have never had this much disrespect for my seniors when I was your age.” That wasn’t quite true, Light had done a number of rebellious acts in his second year, but he at least put up the front of being respectful and made sure others got the blame every time.

“My apologies.” Near mumbled.

“You know what?” Light said, “I think we’re going to stop this tutoring session here. Sit in the front, pay attention, bring your notes next time for me to look at, and at least _try_ to show respect next time, alright?”

“But it’s only been 10 minutes!” Mello shouted.

“Shh! We’re in a library.” Linda responded, earning an eye roll from Mello.

Light nodded, packing up his books as an indication that they were finished. “Yes, and a very productive 10 minutes it’s been.”

Then, he swiftly exited the library and left the younger students to fend for themselves. Light was a serious student with serious things to do, and if the kids he was tutoring weren’t even going to have respect for him than he wouldn’t have any respect for the kids. Not that he had much respect for them to start with.

Yes, last year’s bunch was much smarter.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, the famous detective and Auror L had just received news from the ministry that _five_ wizards had collapsed in Azkaban from heart attacks.

_I expected there to be a longer period of time between the first and a second killing, but…_

One of his first thoughts upon hearing the news is that the killings happened to have happened shortly after he made Light Yagami angry enough to storm out of the room. He knew that it was likely a coincidence, of course, but all the same…something about the situation did not seem right to him.

It was unfair of him to immediately pin Light Yagami as a suspect, considering L had been watching and waiting for the boy to mess up since he met him. All the same, the boy had first caught his eye _because_ he fit the profile of the type of person to test the notebook.

He couldn’t be certain until he interviewed other students, just to convince himself that he wasn’t zooming in on Yagami merely because of a hunch and a bitterness that the boy so willingly criticized his teaching style.

One use of the Death Note could have been anyone. Accidents happen, and most curious students would attempt to try it out just to see if it worked. _Five_ names, however? That was purposeful. That was intent.

That meant L’s job was no longer merely retrieving the notebook. No, now he would find the killer and bring him to justice.

He cast his Patronus and ordered it to deliver a message to the headmistress.

_I will be conducting interviews all day tomorrow with every Hogwarts student. Please prepare a room for the occasion, and procure Veritaserum if possible._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for still sticking around for this roller coaster, guys! Sorry it takes me so long, and feel free to let me know what you think (Light Shit-I-Accidentally-Murdered-Again Yagami).


	5. Squad Goals ??

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> L finally gets a squad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *spongebob voice* one year later

**** The voice coming through the fireplace was distorted, and instead of a face staring back at him from the floo network, there was a gothic letter L staring back at them all.

Mr. Yagami supposed he shouldn’t be surprised, after all this “L” was supposedly one of the most powerful wizards currently known in the world. 

No one knew his identity. No one knew his age, or where he lived, or anything about him aside from the fact that anytime there was something the Auror Department couldn’t handle, not only in Wizarding Britain, but throughout the entire wizarding world, L was there to solve the case. 

The Kira case was the perfect example of a case the ministry couldn’t quite handle, so it was no surprise L had taken over the job. The true surprise was the mysterious and vague request he had received asking him to gather a small task force of aurors he trusted into his office this late at night. 

The news he had was even more surprising, however.

“So what you’re implying,” Mr. Yagami began, “Is that this ‘Kira’ as he is known could be located at Hogwarts?” 

“I’m not implying it,” The distorted voice was saying, “I’m saying it quite plainly. I have a strong suspicion.” 

“But… that’s Hogwarts!” Yelled Matsuda, a 7 th year Hufflepuff prefect who had managed, somehow, to gain an internship with Mr. Yagami at the ministry. 

No one else seemed to know how he managed to get there, but chances are it had something to do with that good old fashion Hufflepuff work ethic. ‘

“Nothing bad can happen at Hogwarts anymore,” he continued, “And they’ve started doing more thorough application processes for teachers after Voldemort.” 

“I’m not referring to a teacher,” L replied, “I believe that Kira could be a student.”  

“What!?” Cried Yagami, “How is this possible?”

“I will tell you all in person.” 

The men in the room exchanged glances. In person? Were they finally going to meet the elusive L? 

“Seeing as you men in this room were willing to risk your lives to help catch this murderer even before I took the case, I believe it’s time we meet. Whether he knows it or not, I have worked with Mr. Yagami covertly on a few cases before, and I trust he has only invited the most dedicated. If I am wrong, those who do not wish to stay can depart now. No one will think less of you.”

The men exchanged looks. 

The voice paused for a moment, as if shuffling around to find something. “You will meet me near the place they call the Shrieking Shack in the town of Hogsmeade in Magical Britain near Hogwarts. Be there at 11:00PM tonight, and I do hope you don’t keep me waiting. Goodnight.”

Just like that, the fire was diminished, and the room was left cold. No one spoke. 

Matsuda was the first to break the silence. “I hope it doesn’t take too long. I have a test in the morning!”

Hufflepuff. 

* * *

“Are you sure we’re in the right spot?” It was 1am, and Aizawa hadasked the same question around five times.   


“He said right outside of the shrieking shack.”

“Well he also said he doesn’t like being late!” 

“I have a test tomorrow.” Matsuda complained. 

“And I’m sure you’ll do fine, Matsuda. It’s for my class after all,” Said a boy coming out of the shadows. 

The aurors exchanged glances. Was this L? He looked barely older than a student! And he said he had a test?

“Follow me.” 

And so they followed him into the Shrieking Shack. 

“I’m not going in there!” Matsuda whispered to Mr. Yagami, “It’s supposed to be haunted.” 

“Matsuda, shut up.” Mr. Yagami replied. “This case is more important than some silly child’s tale.” 

“Take a seat.” L gestured to a few rickety chairs. 

The aurors exchanged looks once again, then took a seat, and the teen sat on a chair opposite them, in the most unusual position. 

The aurors each went around the room, introducing themselves and holding up their IDs. 

“Dead, dead, dead, dead.” L pulled out his wand and waved it at each of them, before they even had a chance to draw their wands out. The boy was quick. “If I were Kira, you’d all be dead.” 

The aurors stared back at him in shock, but the detective just kept rattling on as if nothing had happened. 

Finally, after a few hours of details were worked out, the time  _ finally _ came for an explanation. 

“We strongly suspect the killer to be a student at Hogwarts because Hogwarts is where it is believed that the notebook was stored during Voldemort’s reign. Furthermore, I believe the killer to be a student because of the hours in which criminals have died. I’ve graphed the times in which Kira has killed criminals. The times, when overlapped on this chart, fit only within a 6 th year Hogwarts student’s schedule. 

“Although none of this proves exactly that the killer is a student at Hogwarts, it’s the only lead we have. Of course, theoretically the student could be killing during class times as well, though that would take a true sociopath to manage to execute multiple people without showing signs of distress in the classroom.”

A look of sudden and intense realization crossed Matsuda’s face at that moment, as he suddenly realized who L was. 

“You’re that kid!” 

“Huh?” Everyone looked questioningly at Matsuda. 

“You’re that really weird one!” He turned to the other aurors, “I’ve never paid that much attention to him before, because everyone sort of forgets he exists. I think he’s new this year, but everyone just pretends he’s always been going here because no one wants to seem rude. No one even knows what house he’s in. He usually just sleeps wherever is convenient, and eats wherever is convenient, and manages to have sweets at all hours of the day even when it’s not a meal time. I’ve heard that—“

“Yes, we get it. I’m right here,” L cut him off. “I do hope Matsuda will shape up and begin to look at this case seriously, or else he might not be allowed to continue ‘helping’ in this investigation.” 

No one was good at hiding their annoyance for long when it came to Matsuda. 

“Now,” He continued, “I have a plan if any of you care to hear it.” 

He explained his plan briefly to the group, watching Yagami’s eyes get wider and wider with each word he said, as if he were proposing a mass suicide rather than a school wide interrogation.

“You can’t administer veritaserum to every student in the school! That would cost hundreds of dollars, not to mention it’s entirely unethical. I won’t stand for it!” Yagami shouted, as soon as L was finished describing his plan.

“Then continue sitting. This is what I am doing, and nothing can convince me otherwise.”

“Wait one week,” Yagami pleaded. “Wait one week, investigate in other ways, and if you still have no further leads resort to veritaserum, but it should  _ not  _ be the first extreme you jump to! It’s simply ridiculous.” 

L raised his non-existent eyebrows. “And I’m sure your reluctance has nothing to do with with the fact that your son would be given veritaserum and subjected to interrogation himself?”

Yagami blanched, as if the possibility had not yet crossed his mind. Still, after looking into the man’s eyes for a few seconds too long, he sighed and gave in. “Fine, I will wait a week. If I am still unsatisfied, I will continue with my regular plan.”

All the men gave sighs of relief.

The time was 3am.

* * *

The next night he received yet another call from the minister. “Antonin Dolohov. He drew a Deathly Hallows symbol on the wall in his own blood before killing himself.” 

This was also in the papers the next morning, with even more scandal surrounding it than before due to the symbol drawn on the wall. They called it a conspiracy. 

The next day there were no deaths whatsoever. The Minister was disappointed, thinking perhaps the lead was gone and there had been no connection to the deaths and the notebook. 

The next day there were four criminal deaths by heart attack in a span of ten minutes, and L’s belief that the notebooks were to blame had been confirmed.

After reading Light Yagami’s Defense Against the Dark Arts essay that he has assigned four days previous, he had a pretty good idea of who his first suspect might be.    
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short, but it exists. Honestly it doesn't seem like it's been that long since I updated, but oops. I actually have a lot of this written, but I have trouble writing chronologically so it's actually just, like, the middle and end that's written. My bad ??   
> If you're still reading this after one year, I could kiss you.


	6. It's Just a Diary, I Swear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Light sinks further into delinquency, and once again realizes why he hates Hufflepuffs. (AKA Light's a lady killer, in a lot of different ways.)

**_MORE MYSTERIOUS AZKABAN DEATHS_ **

_ 4 former condemned Death Eaters from within Azkaban, Thorfinn Rowle, Amycus Carrow, Steven Selwyn, and Walden Macnair have all died overnight from mysterious heart attacks.  _

His eyes skimmed further down the page.

Blah blah blah, blah blah blah,

_ Still unknown whether these deaths are related to the mysterious Azkaban deaths from-- _

Still unknown? He supposed it was good they didn’t notice a connection yet, though to Light it seemed quite obvious. They couldn’t seriously think that all these deaths were just random coincidences?  

Of course, even if they did come to the conclusion that these were not natural events, there have been no discovered spells that can kill people with a heart attack and leave no magical trace. 

Yes, eventually they would  _ have  _ to come to the conclusion that someone was passing divine judgment upon the dark wizards in the wizarding world. 

Then, the world would know of what Light was trying to accomplish! He had even thought momentarily about perhaps branching out; he might tune into Muggle media and begin his work there as well, if all went well where he currently was. 

He thought it no secret that the Ministry is corrupt and the Muggles are all idiots, so in theory it wouldn’t take much time at all to clean up the world. 

He smirked internally, wondering how L was handling a case full of untraceable murders with no leads. 

“Hey Light! What do you think?”

Huh? Oh. They must’ve been talking to him… but what were they talking about? 

“I think it’s definitely worth discussing,” he responded, letting the conversation continue from there. Any time his fellow 6 th year Ravenclaws were talking about something, it was bound to be some sort of controversial debate. 

He found it all frivolous, considering sitting around talking about it all wouldn’t actually change anything. Sure, there was a time when he would join in on the discussions (he was very passionate about his beliefs). That was before he actually got the power to change things, however. He felt as though he’d changed so much as a person in the last several days alone. 

“ _ I  _ think Kira may be onto something. It’s insane that they never executed those Death Eaters! My grandfather was killed by a Death Eater.”

“You’re right. They escaped before, they could escape again.”

Yes, it was  _ very _ hard to hide the grin threatening to slip onto his face. He’d had the note for, what, a week now? And already even his classmates were starting to come over to his side. 

“Whether he’s killing criminals or not, murder is still murder. To be honest I hope L catches him.”

“Hey, do you think this means he’ll give out lighter homework? I mean, if he’s so busy.”

“Probably not.” 

“Well, this discussion has been fun, but I’ve gotta start studying for that Charms test today. You coming Light?” The question came from John Something-or-other. 

Light didn’t want to study for a charms test, especially not with John Something-or-other who he knew just wanted Light’s help so that he could copy off his answers. Light found studying with other people to be too annoying. I mean, it’s not that Light thought he was better than everyone. He was just…. Better than everyone. 

“No, I think I’m going to stay down here and finish my breakfast.” He replied.

One girl laughed and said, “I don’t know how you can eat that stuff, Light! It’s rabbit food.” 

“It’s Vegan.” He replied, trying not to let his intense annoyance shine through. If only he remembered her name for certain, at least then she’d stop making Vegan jokes all the time. He smiled at the joke.

He watched them go, and as soon as they were out of sight he pulled out the notebook. It wouldn’t be a help having people asking questions about it this early on, and his fellow Ravenclaws were the nosiest students ever. 

“Liiiiighhht? What are you doing?” 

Looks like his sister had found him.

“What is it, Sayu?” 

It seemed like every day it grew harder and harder to keep his voice from being condescending. 

Being a genius was so, so hard. 

“I need help with my Charms homework!” 

He could help her, and it would be easy. After all, he was practically a prodigy at Charms (then again, he was a prodigy at every subject). Second year Charms especially was an easy task. 

He was also a Ravenclaw Prefect, and a shoe-in for Head Boy next year. It really was his duty to help her out.

That didn’t mean he wanted to, though. He planned on writing down at  _ least _ five more names before classes, and he rarely got a moment alone these days. Tutoring those brats took a lot out of him, plus he needed top grades on his NEWTs in order to become Head of the Auror department someday, and he absolutely did  _ not  _ want to show up to L’s class late.

“Wait, is that a diary?” 

Snapping out of his thoughts, he shut the notebook as quickly as possible, making sure to cover the giant words that read “Death Note” on the front. That wouldn’t be conspicuous at all. He really did need to get a book cover. Perhaps that would be his next step?

“Yes Sayu. It’s absolutely a diary, I swear. Now what spells are you having trouble with?” 

* * *

 

He strolled into L’s class a full three minutes early, only to find his graded essay sitting on his assigned desks.  _ About time.  _ Everyone else had received their essays back the day before, and yet there had been strange silence about his own essay.

He got close enough to see the grade, and immediately felt the anger and frustration begin to rise in him. He didn’t know where it came from, considering how well he could usually contain his emotions, but he suddenly felt a huge urge to just flip over the entire desk.

He closed his eyes, counted to five, and took a deep breath. The anger didn’t go away, but he pasted his mask back on again without anyone else being the wiser. 

He’d gotten a ‘Dreadful’ on the paper, despite his best efforts. Yes, it was written with a disrespectful tone and yes he’d had the direct intention of pissing off his teacher, but it was also well-written and all of the information was correct, so there was no good enough reason to fail him. 

If this was the standard with which all his other assignments were graded, he could end up with a P in the course. He shook his head, sending the thoughts far from his mind. He  _ would  _ pass, and there was no way they would restrict him from continuing to take the class his following year. He  _ had  _ to be an auror.

He decided he would talk to L after class. 

He assumed that everyone else found L’s lecture as boring as he did, but looking around he found that he was actually the only one struggling to keep his eyes open. L, for once, chose  _ not  _ to call Light out for his disrespect. He couldn’t muster up the energy to be thankful.

Finally, halfway through his lecture on conquering fear in preparation for the following week’s exercise, L asked if anyone had questions. A ravenclaw in the back raised his hand.

“Is it true you’re working on the mysterious Kira case?” The room immediately broke out into whispers and hushed chaos. 

There were a few beats of silence, then, “I meant questions relating to boggarts...but to satisfy your childish curiosity, I am not under the liberty to say. I would urge you, however, to avoid making assumptions about the mysterious deaths. We do not know that it is the work of one wizard, and if there  _ is  _ a new dark wizard on the rise it is unwise of you to brand him with a name so soon.”

“Fear of the name only increases fear of the thing itself,” Light muttered.

“Did Light-kun have something to say?” L asked, voice dripping with condescension. 

Apparently, L still had killer hearing as wells as eyes all over the room. He repeated his statement, this time louder and laced with a mocking tone that he knew was unwise. “I said, fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself,  _ L. _ ”

“ _ Professor  _ L,” L corrected, prompting Light to roll his eyes, an action that ne never would have done in another class. L continued, not in the slightest unnerved by Light’s disrespect. “There is a difference between being afraid of the name of a dark wizard like Voldemort, and being smart enough not to brand a rising dark wizard with a silly schoolyard nickname. Once you hand him an alias, you hand him validation. Now, about boggarts--”  

Another Ravenclaw raised their hand. “Is it true--”

“No.” L interrupted. He didn’t ask for more questions.

After class, everyone else slowly shuffled out the door except for Light, who still remained patiently seated at his desk. After everyone had finally left, he stood. 

“Is there something Light-kun needs?” L asked, though the screen with his letter on it had gone blank. “Perhaps a question about Kira?” 

A quick and panicked  _ he knows!  _ fluttered through Light’s head before he pushed it away again. Light clutched his paper in his hand a bit tighter, and opened his mouth to begin speaking.

“Ah, I see,” L interrupted before the first word had even left Light’s lips, “Light-kun is here about his Dreadful. Do you have a problem with my grading system?” 

“With all due respect, Professor,” Light said through grit teeth, “You don’t seem to  _ have  _ a grading system. This was graded completely arbitrarily, and I feel as though the grade I received was not an accurate reflection of the amount of work I put into the assignment.”

“I asked for an informational essay and you gave me an opinion piece. Furthermore, your essay regressed into an informal and disrespectful tone halfway through, not to mention some of the things you said were just objectively wrong. Some of your views are even a bit worrying. Light-kun should be lucky that I gave him as high of a grade as a Dreadful, rather than the Troll he deserved.”

The paper in Light’s fist was so crumpled by now that it was only a few steps away from illegible. Light was practically shaking, unsure of where all of this anger was coming from. 

“ _ Professor,”  _ Light spat, throwing extra emphasis on the word, “Your behavior is entirely unprofessional and unlike any teacher I have seen before. I don’t know what I did to make you biased against me, but if you don’t change my grade I  _ will  _ issue a complaint. Just because you’re a big-shot with the ministry doesn’t mean you can be a dick to students.” 

“Congratulations, Light-kun,” L said in a voice that, though distorted by something, was still obviously cheery, “Your astonishing just earned you a detention. 8 o’clock, my office. You won’t like what will happen if you are late.”

* * *

 

Storming out of the room without much care as to where he was going, lead Light to run head on into the pretty little Hufflepuff that Takada was so worked up about. 

He glared at her, a look of disgust on his face, but her face brightened when she saw him. 

“Light!” She said, as if he were the sole person she wanted to talk to for the rest of her life. 

“Hello, Misa.” Light said flatly, hoping she would take the hint that he wasn’t in the mood for conversation. She didn’t, which should not have been too surprising. 

“Light is just the person Misa-Misa hoped to see!” Misa said, huge smile on her face. She took a step closer to him until they were practically touching, and looked up at him, batting her huge eyelashes. “There’s a Hogsmeade visit coming up in a month, and I thought...you might want to take Misa-Misa?” 

Light took a step back, only to find himself with his back against the wall. “It’s funny that you asked that, Misa,” Light began with an obvious fake laugh, “Because--”

Kiyomi Takada took that moment to rear her jealous head, coming just around the corner to see Light pressed against the wall with Misa practically on top of him. 

“ _ Light!”  _ She yelled, balling her hands into fists and taking an angry step towards them.

_ Oh, for Merlin’s sake, I don’t have time for this shit.  _

Yes, Light was on his way to become a pinnacle of goodness and a beacon of hope for the masses, but he was also a teenage boy who occasionally needed his petty revenge. He never had gotten back at Takada for that stunt she’d pulled in L’s class, had he?

He leaned down, and met his lips passionately with Misa Amane’s, wrapping his hands in her hair and pulling her tight against him. 

He opened his eyes for long enough to see Takada staring in shock, then storming away, before he closed them again and pulled away from her. 

Misa stared up at him, as if he were her sun and stars. “I...I’ll take that as a yes, then?”

“Of course,” Light said, with a charmingly fake smile. He could always cancel on her later, and who knows, maybe in a month he’d need a good cover? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't disappear ! Here's another trashy chapter of this trashy story. If you ever want to talk about it, or death note, or anything, feel free to hit me up on my tumblr (llawlietofficial) anytime.   
> Much love!


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